Gdovic excited about his chances in K&N Visit Hampton 175 at Langley Speedway on Saturday

Brandon Gdovic describes himself as more "anxious and ready to get going than nervous" about the K&N Pro Series East Visit Hampton 175 at Langley Speedway.

Even against a field featuring some of NASCAR's best young drivers, Gdovic, 22, is confident. Part of it is simply the knowledge that he can compete, having won a K&N race at Greenville Pickens in 2013 and finishing eighth and 10th in the series standings the past two seasons.

The other part, of course, is that all of those NASCAR Next stars of the future are racing on his turf. And, if anything, Gdovic is more confident than ever about his K&N chances at Langley, because of all the laps he's put on its 4/10-of-a-mile asphalt oval this year.

Gdovic has pared down his K&N schedule this season — running four of eight races after completing the full slate the past two years — to get more laps at Langley in a variety of cars.

"I'm experiencing different ranges, horsepowers, car sizes, open wheel, not open wheel and getting a ton of experience," he said. "I'm becoming wiser as a racer and having a ton of fun just 10 minutes away from where I live.

"K&N racing is the job part of racing and what I do at Langley is the hobby thing, where I can just have fun."

He's doing well. Gdovic has run near the front in several races in Langley's very competitive Late Model division, finished second in a Legends race and won his first Modified Division outing before finishing second later that same night. For a guy who loves driving, getting more races than the usual K&N schedule of about 15 affords has been a blast.

And it has been instructive in a way he hopes will give him an advantage against the visitors for Saturday's race at Langley.

"What's been more useful than anything, is that I've learned how this track changes from day to night," he said, noting that the repave prior to the 2013 season has made Langley "funkier" than most tracks. "Since it was paved, Langley is one of the weirdest tracks I've ever seen and can do a complete change from one hour to the next.

"Most tracks that are hot and greasy during the day, gain more grip and tighten up as they cool down at night. Langley can tighten up so much that it can actually make your car looser at night."

While Gdovic hopes all of the knowledge he and his crew have gained by racing more this season at Langley will help, he knows he and every other driver but Ben Rhodes will fly somewhat under the radar going into Saturday's race. Rhodes, 17, enters on a three-race win streak, having won four of the past five K&N events.

"Ben races smart and does not put himself in a bad situation, use the car up or knock the nose off going for a place," Gdovic said. "That's one reason he's always up front.

"He may be an extraordinary talent in one aspect, but it's hard to judge when you run in the best equipment."

Gdovic, who lists Gray Gaulding, Cameron Hayley, Daniel Suarez and Austin Hill as other prime contenders Saturday, notes that Turner Scott Motorsports won the K&N East title last year with Dylan Kwasniewski — who won in 2013 at Langley — and has continued to be excellent with Rhodes.

But Gdovic is happy with the group at Precision Performance Motorsports working on the No. 64 Toyota. He and crew chief Charles Denike III are of one mind on setup, Bruce Kimmell is an expert fabricator and Langley Legends champ Spencer Saunders has done a good job managing the tires.

PPM might not have Turner Scott's budget, but Rick Gdovic, Brandon's dad and the team owner, has provided competitive race cars to his K&N quest the past two years. Gdovic is anxious to see if he's got a winning one this Saturday.

"We've gotten a little better each year in the K&N race at Langley, but some kind of bad luck has taken us out," Gdovic said. "We were battling for second all night last year, got spun out late and finished 10th.